Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the header without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
Title: The Rose in the Ring
Author: George Barr McCutcheon
Release Date: July, 2004 [EBook #6118]
[This file was first posted on November 11, 2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE ROSE IN THE RING ***
CONTENTS
BOOK ONE
I THE FUGITIVE
II IN THE DRESSING TENT
III DAVID ENTERS THE SAWDUST RING
IV A STRANGER APPEARS ON THE SCENE
V SOMETHING ABOUT THE BRADDOCKS
VI DAVID JENISON'S STORY
VII THE BROTHERS CRONK
VIII AN INVITATION TO SUPPER
IX A THIEF IN THE NIGHT
X LOVE WINGS A TIMID DART
XI ARTFUL DICK GOES VISITING
XII IN WHICH MANY THINGS HAPPEN
XIII THE SALE
BOOK TWO
I THE DAUGHTER OF COLONEL GRAND
II THE STRANGER AT THE HALL
III THE MAN WHO SERVED HIS TIME
IV THE DELIVERY OF A TELEGRAM
V THE LOVE THAT WAS STAUNCH
VI DOOR-STEPS
VII TOM BRADDOCK'S PROMISE
VIII COLONEL GRAND AND THE CLONKS
IX IN THE LITTLE TRIANGULAR "SQUARE"
X THE BLACK HEADLINES
ILLUSTRATIONS
His audience was fairly hanging on his words.. _Frontispiece_
"It is my money!" cried David
Her lips parted in amazement, tremulously struggling into a smile of
"This is the one, great, solitary hour in your life."
BOOK ONE
CHAPTER I
The gaunt man led the way. At his heels, doggedly, came the two short
ones, fagged, yet uncomplaining; all of them drenched to the skin by
the chill rain that swirled through the Gap, down into the night-
ridden valley below. Sky was never so black. Days of incessant storm
had left it impenetrably overcast.
These men trudged--or stumbled--along the slippery road which skirted
the mountain's base. Soggy, unseen farm lands and gardens to their
left, Stygian forests above and to their right. Ahead, the far-distant
will-o-the-wisp flicker of many lights, blinking in the foggy shroud.
Three or four miles lay between the sullen travelers and the town that
cradled itself in the lower end of the valley.
Night had stolen early upon the dour spring day. The tall man who led
carried a rickety, ill-smelling lantern that sent its feeble rays no
farther ahead than a dozen paces; it served best to reveal the face of
the huge silver watch which frequently was drawn from its owner's coat
pocket.
Eight o'clock,--no more,--and yet it seemed to these men that they had
plowed forever through the blackness of this evil night, through a
hundred villainous shadows by unpointed paths. Mile after mile, they
had traversed almost impassable roads, unwavering persistence in
command of their strength, heavy stoicism their burden. Few were the
words that had passed between them during all those weary miles. An
occasional oath, muffled but impressive, fell from the lips of one or
the other of those who followed close behind the silent, imperturbable
leader. The tall man was as silent as the unspeakable night itself.
Leave a Comment